The one book that stood out in my mind from this past semester was The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. I particularly liked her use of different themes throughout the book to show Quoyle’s evolution as a character. I also liked her use of a small community because it was something that I could relate to.

One of the main reasons that I like this book is because it is set in a rural community where everybody knows everybody; which resembles my home town. I know most of the people in my community and I get along with everyone that I work with, which resembles the life of Quoyle. Beety Buggit reminds me of my mom and the cooking that she does, especially the bread. Every time Quoyle entered the Buggit house there seemed to be the smell of yeast or fresh bread cooking. I can clearly imagine this, because I have walked in the front door many times to have the fresh smell of bread hit me in the face.

Annie Proulx uses the two different boats that Quoyle owns as a symbol of Quoyle’s change. The first boat that he buys is a boat that is poorly made yet he says that, “He felt almost transf

ormed, ready to take on the sea” This boat symbolizes his journey with Petal. Quoyle’s first boat was not fit for what he wanted to use it for. His first boat was a small shallow boat, which was poorly built by a kid. In the end Quoyle almost died because of the poorly built boat. The boat relates directly to Petal because when Quoyle became Petal’s husband he felt the same way he did with the boat, like he was transformed and ready to take on the sea. Petal is a direct relationship to the boat because she was poorly built and shallow. Quoyle almost died because of

again. But you builds with green wood and water will never go in the wood. I never builds with green wood” (237). This quote is a symbol of Quoyle and his search for love. Alvin is indirectly telling Quoyle that you have to look for the best qualities and not what is around for the taking. This is to compare and contrast Petal and Wavey. Quoyle’s first wife, Petal, wasn’t really the love in his life. He didn’t look for the qualities that you would look for. She showed interest in him so he thought that she was the one for him; Petal’s quality was

Some topics in this essay:
Annie Proulx, Alvin Yark, Wavey Quoyle’s, Quoyle Petal’s, Jack Dennis, Jack Buggit, Beety Buggit, Petal Quoyle’s, American Fiction, Yark Quoyle, alvin yark, poorly built, boat poorly, quoyle’s boat, boat poorly built, community resembles, quoyle died, boat symbolizes, builds green, annie proulx, dry wood,